How Trump Could Have Remained In Power Legally

I will preface this by saying that I originally wrote this on July 29, 2020, as an op-ed to the NYT, Hartford Courant, and WAPO, but it was never published. Nonetheless, I think it demonstrates how evident Trump’s intentions were prior to the 2020 election. I can speak with confidence in saying that if I could write this, then should we have been at all surprised when it became reality? I can say with certainty that I do not possess better intel than any of our government agencies. In hindsight, I was right, and I was wrong. However, I think it’s an interesting read. Thank you for taking the time to read it.

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Trump has demonstrated throughout his life, that he is a criminal and moral deviant. His history of lawsuits, penchant for fraud & criminality, and perhaps even unmentionable immoral behavior while in the company of Epstein and Maxwell, not only makes him unfit to sit in the Oval, but it also qualifies him as a social leper in normal societal circles.

If we look deep into his past behavior and actions, annex them to the status quo, and eliminate logic and reasonable thinking, Trump could very easily be viewed as a genius, albeit an unstable one which begs the question, is he unstable enough and to legally overthrow America? I’ll answer that in the affirmative. He is. While this may sound crazy to some, a year ago in July of 2019, 150,000 dead Americans from a pandemic, and a doctor who believes medicine is made from alien DNA would sound crazy too.

In the past Trump joked about staying more than two terms, but he jests no longer. What his abject narcissism has blinded him from was the reality of being president for only one term, being impeached, and facing prison as a private citizen. Urgency and desperation drive him now, fueled by the fear of going to prison. This has given rise to what I think could be his three-point plan for turning America into a quasi-dictatorship and remaining in power well beyond 2020.

As I see it there are four possible ways in which Trump could attempt this.

Plan D

Delay The Election

Delaying the general election has been tossed around but this is not constitutionally possible. In Article II, The Constitution says the President “shall hold his office for the term of four years.” The Twentieth Amendment goes on to say that Trump and Pence’s terms “shall end at noon on the 20th day of January”. Even if Trump did somehow delay the election, constitutionally he would be deemed unelected. In that case the Speaker of The House, Nancy Pelosi would become President. If Trump presents an argument to SCOTUS, it’s anyone’s guess as to how they would rule or if they would have enough support from within to take the case under the Rule of Four or writ of certiorari.

Plan C

The Pinocchio Syndrome

This will be his top course of action for nullifying the upcoming election. For the last few weeks, he has tweeted and wailed ad nauseam that mail in voting is susceptible to fraud and vulnerable to foreign interference, and the only way he can lose is if the election is rigged. He is laying groundwork for overturning the election by claiming widespread voter fraud and using his own appointed judges to rule in his favor and get help from a few red states to decertify their elections, it just may work. This is Trump subterfuge at its best. Even if this doesn’t work, he still has Plan A. When I say it is terrifyingly legal and probable, it is, and we can thank George W. for it.

Plan B

Coup D’état

For one to execute a coup d’état successfully one would need an army to assist with the seizure of power from the Government being overthrown, aka our democracy. Trump has built his in only three and half years. He has surrounded himself with the most amoral and loyal sycophants he could find and inserted them into the very key roles of AG and SCOTUS. During this not so far-fetched scenario, they would act as his generals. He has turned the entire Republican Party into an army of traitors who are led by the Senator from Kentucky, Addison Mitch McConnell Jr. They have betrayed America in a manner which we haven’t seen since Benedict Arnold. They kneel not to their oaths and constituents, but instead to Trump, money, and their own power.

Throughout history every emperor, king and dictator has had his enforcer. Hitler had Himmler; Trump has Barr. America’s top cop will quickly remove anyone and anything that stands in the way of Trump’s rise to dictatorship. The dismissal of SDNY AG Berman by Barr, Epstein’s “suicide,” and SCOTUS’ protection of Trump’s taxes are prime examples.

Mitch McConnell is knowingly helping the pandemic spread, and this is key, by not providing much needed economic help to millions of desperate Americans which would allow them to remain at home during the pandemic. To what end? The “end” is two words, “catastrophic emergency.” Trump needs a national catastrophic emergency for Plan A to reach fruition and Mitch McConnell is giving him one.

Let us move to Plan A, the frightening legal aspect of Trump’s retention of the Office of the Presidency.

Plan A

NSPD 51/HSPD 20/ED51

COVID infections have reached epic levels and the virus remains out of control. Yet amidst this, schools are going to open. This will create a deadly domino effect. Because of their inability to survive financially, a result of McConnell’s inaction, millions of anguished Americans will be forced to unsafely return to work and send their children to school. Teachers, children, and school employees will become infected, spread the virus to each other, and ultimately to their working families.

Schools will close and businesses will shutter as employees continue to become infected. Hospitals and entire healthcare systems will continue to be overrun. Without substantial decisive and quick government intervention the economy will collapse creating, Trump’s end game, a catastrophic emergency. This will allow Trump to invoke NSPD 51/HSPD 20/ED51, or National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive.

The 2007 directive is a Presidential Directive that constructs a national policy for continuation of government in the event of a catastrophic emergency which it defines as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions." The current state of the country certainly qualifies as a catastrophic emergency.

NSPD51 states “The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government. To advise and assist the President in that function, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (APHS/CT) is hereby designated as the National Continuity Coordinator.” In effect it would give Trump totalitarian like power.

While NSPD 51 gives the POTUS far reaching power, although the language is vague and therefore open to interpretation. Enter Trump’s generals. In these cases, Barr/SCOTUS/Senate would be asked to make legal rulings. There is no indication they will not side with Trump. Bear in mind Trump has said in the past he “can do anything I want” and Barr is a fierce advocate of infinite presidential power.

Trump is currently constructing a wall around the White House which after the invocation of NSPD51 he feels will be his much-needed fortress. Vladimir Putin has The Kremlin, and Trump has The White House

One final sobering thought. Even if Biden wins, Trump is President until Biden is inaugurated, those will be the most dangerous and harrowing seventy-eight days in American history.